


Night at the Aquarium

by Fairleigh



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Mischief, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-07-20 20:00:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16144460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fairleigh/pseuds/Fairleigh
Summary: Everyone else was tucked in and sound asleep in their sleeping bags, but Lynn was wide awake. Who in their right mind could sleep in front of an aquarium tank with a ghost octopus tooling around in it?!





	Night at the Aquarium

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shoulder_Devil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shoulder_Devil/gifts).



Lynn didn’t like ghost stories, and if she could’ve clapped her hands over her ears and screamed _la la laaa la laaaaaa_ as loudly as possible, she totally would have.

Unfortunately, she was spending the night at the aquarium with her teacher and the rest of her second grade class, and she didn’t want to make herself look like a wimpy baby.

“Orrin the Octopus was an escape artist,” the aquarium manager was telling Lynn’s wide-eyed classmates. “If it could be opened, Orrin would open it. Got out of his tank seven separate times. One time, he even made it as far as a drain pipe that leads back to the ocean. Orrin was making his break for freedom!”

“What happened to him? Did he get away?” asked one of Lynn’s classmates.

The aquarium manager laughed. “Alas, no. We managed to fish him out and put him back where he belonged. He lived right here in this tank” — the aquarium manager gestured behind her — “to the ripe, old age of five. Five years old is _old_ for an octopus. But sometimes,” she added conspiratorially, “the top of the tank is half-open when the staff show up for work in the morning. They swear it was shut tight when they closed for the night. So! I think Orrin’s ghost is still with us and still up to his mischief!”

Lynn grimaced. Her teacher was chuckling, except this was _anything_ but funny. In fact, she was sure she was the only one who noticed the translucent, glowing blue octopus.

~*~*~

Everyone else was tucked in and sound asleep in their sleeping bags, but Lynn was wide awake. Who in their right mind could sleep in front of an aquarium tank with a ghost octopus tooling around in it?!

Her pulse was racing; she felt like she was hyperventilating. This was panic. She had to get away from the ghost. Now. Right now.

Lynn cast her gaze frantically around the room for someplace — anyplace! — to go, to hide —

Then, she noticed the door. It was painted a metallic blue-grey to blend in with the walls of the aquarium exhibit hall. There wasn’t any illuminated EXIT sign above it, so it had to be storage closet or something? That would be perfect.

Lynn approached the door cautiously and tested the knob. It turned in her hand. Open. She pulled. The door was heavy and counterweighted, hard for a little girl like herself to open. She pulled harder, putting her entire weight into the effort. It swung open. Lynn slipped through.

Inside, it was pitch black. The door swung shut behind her, and the latch made a _snick_ sound. Lynn felt for the doorknob; she turned it, pushed to open the door again.

And. Nothing. Happened.

Oh.

Oh noooo …

 _She was locked in_.

Now, Lynn was screaming, and it wasn’t _la la laaa la laaaaaa_ , either. Terrified, she screamed for help, for someone to open the door for her. She screamed herself hoarse, until her throat was raw, and her voice failed altogether. She pounded on the door with her fists until they ached. But the door was sturdy, and no one heard her.

She curled up into a little ball right there on the floor in front of the locked door and wept inconsolably. Eventually, exhausted, she fell asleep.

Lynn never saw the ghost, which squeezed underneath the door and, by its own ghostly blue light, used one clever arm to unjam the lock.

~*~*~

Her teacher found her in the morning after a frantic search of the aquarium premises. Lynn was chastised most severely.

“I was locked in! I couldn’t get out! I shouted for help for ages and no one came!” she protested.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” replied her teacher, seeming reasonable. “You just panicked. The door was half-open when I found you. It must’ve been like that the whole time.”


End file.
